Cost of a treatment Programme

Costs Breakdown

Our aim at the DCU Exoskeleton Programme is to help as many eligible people as possible gain access to this life changing therapy. We are committed to providing an opportunity for all those who are suitable, to be assessed, and to trial the exoskeleton once free of charge.

Clients on our programme vary from those seeking simply to improve their mobility and walking, to those who may continue to require a wheelchair, but are looking to improve their overall health and wellbeing. Regardless of the initial motivation for accessing the programme, the feedback we have received from all those we have worked with to date has been overwhelmingly positive.

In order for the programme to survive in the long term however, and to be able to grow to provide this service to even more clients on an ongoing basis, it is necessary for us to request a contribution to costs from those clients who enrol in our full treatment programme*.

_{*Note, some clients may be eligible to receive financial support through The Walk Fund. Further details of this initiative are provided below.}

Schedule of Costs

Full Treatment Programme

Our full treatment programme includes:

• Initial assessment
• 15 sessions of exoskeleton walking with the primary service
• An option to have a carer or family member enrolled in our training programme to walk with their loved one in the exoskeleton, giving them an opportunity for continued access

or

• 14 additional sessions with one of our approved trainers, as part of our step down service, offered during evenings

The cost for this is €1200, broken down as follows:

Initial assessment for suitability and trial of the exoskeleton: No charge

+

15 sessions of walking in the Exoskeleton suit with the primary service: €800

+

Training for carer or family member (max 2): €400

Note: The carer or family member must attend a minimum of 10 of the client’s 15 sessions to be deemed sufficiently well trained to accompany the client after this time

or

14 additional sessions of walking with a handler that we provide and can be utilised in the evenings or weekends: €400

Ongoing Treatment Options

Once a client’s treatment programme is complete, there is an opportunity to access the exoskeleton on an ongoing basis, pending suitability. The cost for this is:

Working with client’s own trained handler: €10 per session

Or

Walking with a handler that we provide: €30 per session

Funding options

To help us to keep costs to a minimum, so we can make the programme as open and accessible to as many as possible, we would be incredibly grateful if all of our clients would consider self-funding the full cost of their treatment programme. This could be achieved, for instance, by organising a fundraiser amongst friends and family.

We understand that not everybody is in a position to do so, which is why we have established an alternative funding model, with limited resources, for use only by those who absolutely cannot afford to self-fund – The Walk Fund.

Please note, to achieve our goal of offering our life-changing service to as many eligible clients as possible, and to make this a viable option for all well into the future, we are asking that only those who absolutely cannot afford to self-fund use this option.

If you wish to apply to this fund, please email: exoskeleton@dcu.ie for an application form. Please put “The Walk Fund application” in your subject line. The application can be made for full funding support (€800) or a subsidised amount (partially self-funded).  The fund may contribute a maximum of €800 per applicant to cover a basic programme of 15 exoskeleton sessions, but cannot include additional walks or training a carer to walk with the client, as per the price structure above.

If you are aware of anybody that would like to donate to The Walk Fund or indeed are in a position to donate yourself, then we would be extremely grateful if you could contact sarah.williams@dcu.ie